Array
(
[0] => Array
(
[name] => Mahasthangarh
[post_id] => 1387
[post_link] => http://offroadbangladesh.com/bn/places/mahasthangarh/
[thumb_link] => http://offroadbangladesh.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Mahasthangarh1-1024x768-300x225.jpg
[post_content] => Mahasthangarh (Bengali:
মহাস্থানগড় Môhasthangôṛ) is one of the earliest urban archaeological sites so far discovered in Bangladesh. The village Mahasthan in Shibganj thana of Bogra District contains the remains of an ancient city which was called Pundranagara or Paundravardhanapura in the territory of Pundravardhana. A limestone slab bearing six lines inPrakrit in Brahmi script, discovered in 1931, dates Mahasthangarh to at least the 3rd century BC. The fortified area was in use till the 18th century AD.
Together with the ancient and medieval ruins, the mazhar (holy tomb) of Shah Sultan Balkhi Mahisawar built at the site of a Hindu temple is located at Mahasthangarh. He was a dervish (holy person devoted to Islam) of royal lineage who came to the Mahasthangarh area, with the objective of spreading Islam among non-Muslims. He converted the people of the area to Islam and settled there.
Mahasthan means a place that has excellent sanctity and
garh means fort. Mahasthan was first mentioned in a Sanskrit text of the 13th century entitled
Vallalcharita. It is also mentioned in an anonymous text
Karatoya mahatmya, circumstantially placed in 12th–13th century. The same text also mentions two more names to mean the same place – Pundrakshetra, land of the Pundras, and Pundranagara, city of the Pundras. In 1685, an administrative decree mentioned the place as Mastangarh, a mixture of Sanskrit and Persian meaning fortified place of an auspicious personage. Subsequent discoveries have confirmed that the earlier name was Pundranagara or Paundravardhanapura, and that the present name of Mahasthangarh is of later origin.
Mahasthangarh, the ancient capital of Pundravardhana is located 11 km (6.8 mi) north of Bogra on the Bogra-Rangpur highway, with a feeder road (running along the eastern side of the ramparts of the citadel for 1.5 km) leading to Jahajghata and site museum. Buses are available for Bogra from Dhaka and take 4½ hours for the journey via Bangabandhu Jamuna Bridge across the Jamuna River. Buses are available from Bogra to Mahasthangarh. Rickshaws are available for local movement. Hired transport is available at Dhaka/ Bogra. Accommodation is available at Bogra. When travelling in a hired car, one can return to Dhaka the same day, unless somebody has a plan to visit Somapura Mahavihara at Paharpur in the district of Naogaon and other places, or engage in a detailed study.
It is believed that the location for the city in the area was decided upon because it is one of the highest areas in Bangladesh. The land in the region is almost 36 metres (118 ft) above sea level, whereas Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, is around 6 metres (20 ft) above sea level. Another reason for choosing this place was the position and size of the Karatoya, which as recently as in the 13th century was three times wider than Ganges.
Mahasthangarh stands on the red soil of the Barind Tract which is slightly elevated within the largely alluvium area. The elevation of 15 to 25 metres above the surrounding areas makes it a relatively flood free physiographic unit.
)
[1] => Array
(
[name] => Balapur Zamindar House
[post_id] => 17404
[post_link] => http://offroadbangladesh.com/bn/places/balapur-zamindar-house/
[thumb_link] => http://offroadbangladesh.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Balapur-Zamindar-House-2-200x300.jpg
[post_content] =>
In different location of Narsingdi district there are a number of Archaeological sites which attract traveler and explorer to visit these places recurrently. Balapur Zamindar House (বালাপুর জমিদার বাড়ি) is one of the old palatial buildings in this district. If someone interested to visit the oldest buried civilization area in Bangladesh named as Wari-Bateshwar, then it would be better to take a glance at Balapur Zamindar House while moving there. It’s situated at Balapur village, Madhabdi Upazila of Narsingdi district.
This Zamindar House was built by local Zamindar named 'Nobin Chandra Saha' in 1906. It is also known as Zamindar Kali Babur Bari (কালী বাবুর বাড়ি). It’s a complex of buildings scattered in a particular zone. Basically, most of the buildings are three storied and some are one or two storied. Dept. of Archaeology in Bangladesh doesn’t announced it as a protected site yet. So like many others old houses in Bangladesh it is on the way of ruining.
No matter how decorative and ornamented this house is, it’s almost abandoned and some people who living in this house are so called ancestor of Zamindari estate at Balapur. Some local people are selling all the floor tiles made by white stone desperately.
But, Still today this beautiful palace standing with its own identity and spreading the essence of colonial palatial architecture in Bengal. If proper steps being taken this structure can be preserved & conserved for the future exhibiotion.
)
[2] => Array
(
[name] => {:en}Mahisantosh{:}{:bn}মহীসন্তোষ{:}
[post_id] => 5807
[post_link] => http://offroadbangladesh.com/bn/places/mahisantosh/
[thumb_link] => http://offroadbangladesh.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/offroadbangladeshlogo2-300x178.png
[post_content] => {:en}
Mahisantosh an important center of administration and learning in the medieval period. Present Mahiganj and Santosh under Patnitala in Naogaon district were known as Mahisantosh. There is a legend that a darvesh (saint) came to the place on the back of a fish and hence the name. There is also a tradition that the place was named after mahipala I (c 995-1043 AD). The general plan of the site and the discovery of some military weapons, particularly a gun and some swords, now on display at the varendra research museum, indicate that it was a fortified military outpost with ditches and ramparts and sprang up long before the coming of the Muslims. The discovery of an inscription in a mihrab with the inscribed images of Visnu and Surya on the reverse testify that Mahisantosh existed as an important centre before it was made the headquarters of a Sarkar by the Muslims.
The place emerged, in the mid thirteenth century, as a seat of learning. Shaikh Yahiya Maneri is reported to have received his education there under the guidance of the celebrated Shaikh Taqiuddin. Persian sources tend to suggest that this place became a repository for the saints of the Suhrawardi Order. It became a mint town in 1459 during the reign of Ruknuddin Barbak shah (1459-1474) and was renamed Barbakabad after the sultan. The construction of a good number of mosques during the Sultanate indicates that the town had been flourishing with a considerable number of Muslim populations. It continued to be a mint town up to 1521. Barbakabad occurs as a Sarkar and a city in the Ain-I-Akbari. As an urban centre it might have lost its importance towards the close of the sixteenth century. From the seventeenth century it ceases to be mentioned as a place of note.
The extensive area, now in ruins, is covered with thick jungle. There are 4 or 5 mosques, a tomb of Muhammad Shiran Khalji and two tombs of saints, all in ruins. The tomb of Shiran, mentioned in Tabaqat-I-Nasiri, is now unrecognizable in the scattered ruins of some brick structures, compounds, a tank, and a walled garh.
Written by: Md Akhtaruzzaman
{:}{:bn}
মহীসন্তোষ নওগাঁ জেলা সদর থেকে প্রায় ৬২ কিলোমিটার দূরে অবস্থিত। রুকুনউদ্দিন বাবর শাহর শাসনকালে এটি প্রধান শহর ছিল। এখানে একটি প্রাচীন মসজিদ আছে এবং রাজিপুরের অবশিষ্ট এখানে দৃশ্যমান।
{:}
)
[3] => Array
(
[name] => Bhai Girish Chandra Sen's Old House
[post_id] => 23726
[post_link] => http://offroadbangladesh.com/bn/places/bhai-girish-chandra-sens-old-house/
[thumb_link] => http://offroadbangladesh.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Old-House-of-Bhai-Girish-Chandra-Sen-9-200x300.jpg
[post_content] => Girish Chandra Sen also known as Bhai Girish Chandra Sen ( ভাই গিরিশ চন্দ্র সেন), a Brahmo Samaj missionary, was the first person to complete the translation of the Qur'an into Bengali in 1886. It was his finest contribution to Bengali literature. Born in the village of Panchdona of Narsingdi in 1835 in the famed Dewan Baidya clan, he learnt Persian and Sanskrit in early life and started working as a copywriter in the court of the deputy magistrate in Mymensingh. He also taught for a short while at the Mymensingh Zilla School before engaging wholeheartedly in journalism and literary activities. He was attracted to the Brahmo Samaj under the influence of Keshub Chunder Sen and Bijoy Krishna Goswami and joined it as a missionary in 1871. He traveled through India and Burma to propagate his new faith.
The plasters on the walls of this two floor house have almost completely fallen off, baring the brick work, which is covered in a thick moss. The ceilings on both the floors have entirely caved in. Trees have grown all over the walls, thereby creating large cracks. The wood work from doors and windows is completely stolen. To overcome those destruction and deterioration of this old House owned by this famous Scholar, Government has taken necessary steps to renovate the building immediately.
In the year of 1869, Keshub Sen chose four persons amongst his missionaries and ordained them as professors of four old religions of the world. Girish Chandra was selected to study Islam. The others selected to study different religions were Gour Govinda Ray for Hinduism, Protap Chandra Mazoomdar for Christianity, and Aghore Nath Gupta for Buddhism.
This was a time, when even translating religious scripts from Islam was considered as desecration of the sanctity of the scripts. The Holy Qur’an was considered too sacred for translation, as such most of the Muslim scholars refrained from even trying.
A firm believer in the basic unity of all religions, Girish immersed himself in his studies and later went to Lucknow in 1876 to study Arabic, Islamic literature and the Islamic religious texts. He was involved in intense studies for about five years. His keen interest in different religions and his liberal outlook earned him the respect of followers of other religions.
On completion of his studies, he returned to Kolkata and engaged in translation of Islamic scriptures. After hard labor of six years from 1881-1886, he produced an annotated Bengali version of the Qur’an via Persian.
Girish Chandra wrote and published a total of 42 books in Bengali. His books were greatly appreciated by the Muslim community which referred to him as 'Bhai Girish Chandra'. The Muslim society, in his days, respected him enormously and gave him the title of a Maulavi.
Girish Chandra Sen spoke fluently in Bengali, Urdu & Persian. A simple soft-spoken person, he endeared himself to all those who came in contact with him. His autobiography, 'Atmajivani' (আত্মজীবনী), was published in 1906. He passed away in 1910.
)
)
